Royal Rumble (2016)
Royal Rumble (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on January 24, 2016, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was the 29th event in the Royal Rumble chronology. The event also was the fifth Royal Rumble pay-per-view to be held in the state of Florida (1990, 1991, 1995, and 2006), the second (1990) to be held in Orlando, and the first pay-per-view event at the Amway Center. The Royal Rumble match was the second that was contested for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (after the 1992 Rumble), and the first match in which the champion defended his title in the Rumble match. Six matches were contested at the event (including with one match on the pre-show). In the main event, the returning Triple H won the Royal Rumble match by eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, winning his second Royal Rumble match, as well as making him the third person to win it from the number 30 entrant. Roman Reigns the defending champion, was also eliminated by Triple H. The event was also notable for the WWE pay-per-view debut of longtime TNA mainstay AJ Styles, as a participant in the Royal Rumble match. Storylines The card consisted of six matches, including one of the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. Traditionally, the winner of the 30-man Royal Rumble match is awarded a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. However, as a culmination of his attempts to deprive the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns for attacking his son-in-law Triple H and overall disrespecting the McMahon family, WWE chairman Vince McMahon decided on the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, that Reigns would have to defend his title in the Rumble match. On the December 28 episode of Raw, Big Show was the first wrestler to announce his participation in the Royal Rumble match. Early in January, Curtis Axel, Ryback, The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman), Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Stardust and Sheamus were added to the match. On the January 11 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon announced that Brock Lesnar would compete in the match in spite of Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman arguing that Lesnar should bypass the match and face the winner at WrestleMania 32. The next week on Raw, a rigged lottery assigned the #1 spot to Reigns, meaning that he would be the first contestant to enter the match. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Their rivalry intensified for over weeks; including a match ending in a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship. On the January 14 episode of SmackDown, Owen's accepted Ambrose's challenge to a Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble. On the January 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown, John Cena introduced Kalisto as an opponent for United States Champion Alberto Del Rio. After Kalisto won the match, he was granted a title match on the January 11 episode of Raw, in which he defeated Del Rio to win the United States Championship. Del Rio went on to win back the championship the following night on SmackDown. Subsequently, another title match between the two was scheduled for the Royal Rumble. On the January 4 episode of Raw, Becky Lynch was attacked by Divas Champion Charlotte after defeating her in a non-title match. With the help of father Ric Flair, Charlotte defeated Lynch to retain the championship on the January 7 episode of SmackDown. Subsequently, Lynch challenged Charlotte for another title match at the Royal Rumble. Though Charlotte was unwilling to grant Lynch another title opportunity, Lynch goaded Flair to accept the challenge on his daughter's behalf. On the January 11 episode of Raw, The Usos defeated The New Day. The following week on Raw, a tag team title defense by The New Day against The Usos was scheduled for the Royal Rumble. On January 20, a fatal four-way tag team match between Darren Young and Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz, The Ascension, and Mark Henry and Jack Swagger was scheduled for the Royal Rumble pre-show, with both members of the winning team earning a spot in the Royal Rumble match later in the night Aftermath On the following night's episode of Raw, The Authority decided that Triple H would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32 against the winner of a Triple Threat Match between Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Brock Lesnar, to be held at Fastlane. Roman Reigns won the match (and the title opportunity at WrestleMania) by pinning Dean Ambrose. However, Ambrose also received a title match in the run-up to WrestleMania, at WWE Roadblock, where Triple H defeated him to retain the championship. Prior to his Triple Threat match with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at Fastlane, Dean Ambrose lost the Intercontinental Championship on the February 15 episode of Raw in a "Fatal 5-Way" Match also involving Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust, and Tyler Breeze when Owens pinned Breeze to regain the title. The Usos had another confrontation with the New Day, after the latter team interrupted the Usos' cousin, The Rock, who appeared on the January 25 episode of Raw. The Usos forced the trio into the ring, where The Rock attacked each New Day member with his signature moves. On the February 8 episode of Raw, The Usos and The Dudley Boyz defeated The New Day and Mark Henry in an 8-Man Tag Team Match. After the match, The Dudley Boyz attacked The Usos, turning heels in the process. Also on the January 25 episode of Raw, AJ Styles made his Raw debut, defeating Chris Jericho. The two shook hands after the match but Jericho refused to release Styles' hand while giving him a stare down before leaving. After Styles defeated The Miz on the February 4 episode of SmackDown, Jericho challenged Styles to a rematch. Jericho defeated Styles on the following week's episode of SmackDown, giving Styles his first loss since the Royal Rumble. Additionally, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch faced each other on the January 25 Raw in a match which ended in disqualification after Charlotte attacked both women. After Banks confirmed her intentions of going after the Divas Championship and split from Team B.A.D on the February 1 Raw, she faced Lynch that night in a rematch which ended with Banks winning by disqualification after Team B.A.D members Naomi and Tamina attacked her, turning her face in the process. Lynch helped Banks fend off Naomi and Tamina leading to a temporary and uneasy alliance between the two. Also that same night Charlotte lost a non-title match to Brie Bella by roll-up. This led to a title match between the two for the Divas Championship scheduled for Fastlane, which Charlotte won. Results Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations : – NXT : – Winner *(*) - Strowman, Harper, and Rowan returned to the ring to eliminate Brock Lesnar, after they were eliminated by Lesnar. *(**) - The Miz stayed around ringside before officially entering the ring. *(***) - Sheamus was attacked by Roman Reigns before officially entering the ring. *(****) - The League of Nations attacked Roman Reigns, momentarily taking him out of the match. Reigns was not eliminated and eventually returned to the ring. Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Royal Rumble Category:Royal Rumble Category:2016 Pay-Per-View Events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events